System and method for ranking search results within citation intensive document collections

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods facilitate a search and identify documents and associated metadata reflecting content of the documents. In one implementation, a method receives a query comprising a set of search terms, identifies a stored document in response to the query, and determines a score value for the retrieved document based on a similarity between one or more of the query search terms and metadata associated with the identified document. The method locates the identified document in a citation network of baseline query results, the citation network comprising a first set of documents that cite to the identified document and a second set of documents cited to by the identified document. The method further determines a new score value of the identified document as a function of the score value and a quantity and a quality of documents within the first and second set of documents.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Systems and methods consistent with disclosed embodiments display andrank a set of retrieved documents in response to a query.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Conventional search tools return a list of documents in response to asearch query. The documents from the list may be ranked according totheir relevance to the search query. For example, highly relevantdocuments may be ranked higher than, and may be displayed in a listabove, documents of a lesser relevance. This allows a user to quicklyand conveniently identify the most relevant documents retrieved inresponse to the query.

Some conventional search tools allow a user to perform a query usingnatural language. For example, LexisNexis® uses Freestyle™ to enableusers to submit query terms associated with a case or legal concept. Thesearch tool then returns a ranked list of legal documents matching thequery terms. The search tool may rank the legal documents based upon anumber of times the query terms appear in the legal document. Forexample, a term “patent” may occur in a first document 50 times, and mayoccur in a second, similarly sized document, 10 times. If the userentered a query for “patent,” the search tool would deem the firstdocument to be more relevant than the second document because itincludes the term “patent” more times. In this instance, frequency andsize are used to determine ranking. Therefore, the search tool wouldassign the first document a higher ranking than the second document.

With more complex queries, search tools may use word vectors whencomparing a query with a document. Generally, a vector can berepresented as a line segment with a direction and a magnitude. In atwo-dimensional space, a two dimensional vector V=[x, y] can be graphedwith a start point at the origin (0,0) of the graph and an endpoint at acoordinate (x, y) of the graph. A similarity between any two vectors inthe two dimensional space can be determined by calculating the cosine ofthe angle θ between the two vectors.

However, vectors can theoretically be defined across any number ofdimensions n, such that V=[x, y, . . . n]. While it is not possible tographically model vectors over 3 dimensions, it is still possible toperform mathematical operations on these multidimensional vectors. Forexample, it is possible to determine an angle θ between two vectors thatare defined over 3 dimensions, and to determine the similarity betweenthose two vectors by calculating the cosine of the angle θ.

Word vectors can be used to model any string of words, such as adocument or a natural language query. The vectors can be definedaccording to a number of concepts in the English language. For example,if a modern thesaurus includes 1000 concepts, then each word vectorwould include 1000 dimensions. In other words, V=[x, y, . . . n] wheren=1000. Each dimension in the vector would correspond to a unique one ofthe 1000 concepts, and a number in any particular dimension of thevector is the number of times that the concept corresponding to thatdimension occurred in the query or document.

The following example shows a comparison between a document and a queryusing word vectors. The concepts from this example can also apply to acomparison between any two sets of words, such as between two documents.Table 1 illustrates an exemplary set of concepts along with wordsrelated to each concept.

TABLE 1 Concept Definitions Concept No. Words 1 the, a 2 attractive,nice, beautiful 3 rose, carnation, pansy 4 white, pink, purple

Table 2 illustrates an exemplary set of word strings, along with wordsincluded in each word string.

TABLE 2 Documents Word String. Text Document the nice, attractive whiterose Query the beautiful carnation

Table 3 illustrates a vectorization of the document and the query fromTable 2 using the concepts from Table 1.

TABLE 3 Vectorization Word String Vector Categorization Document [1, 2,1, 1] [the; nice, attractive; rose; white] Query [1, 1, 1, 0] [the;beautiful; carnation; null]

The dimensions from the vectors in Table 3 correspond to the conceptsset forth in Table 1, such that dimension 1 of each vector correspondsto concept 1, dimension 2 corresponds to concept 2, and so on.Accordingly, the document includes one term from concept 1 (“the”), andso a “1” is assigned to dimension 1 of its vector. The document includestwo terms from concept 2 (“nice” and “attractive”), and so a “2” isassigned to dimension 2 of its vector. The remaining dimensions in thedocument vector, as well as the dimensions for the query vector, arefilled in this manner.

Once the document vector and query vector are calculated in thisexample, it is possible to mathematically determine the angle θ betweenthem. Therefore, it is also possible to determine the similarity betweenthe query and the document by calculating the cosine of the angle θbetween their respective word vectors. This similarity value can becompared with the similarity value of the same query with a differentdocument. In this way, the search tool may rank the documents dependingon their similarity with respect to the query. Phrase vectors may alsobe used in addition to, or instead of word vectors.

This technique may not be the best indicator of relevance. For onething, it relies fundamentally on the frequency of terms within aparticular class. It also ignores other factors that may be important indetermining relevance and ranking.

Accordingly, there is a need to improve the ranking of search results inresponse to a query.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment, there is provided a computerimplemented method for facilitating a search and identification ofdocuments and associated metadata reflecting content of the documentsstored in a memory device. The method involves receiving a querycomprising a set of search terms, identifying a stored document inresponse to the query, determining a score value for the retrieveddocument based on a similarity between one or more of the query searchterms and metadata associated with the identified document, and locatingthe identified document in a citation network of baseline query results.The citation network may include a first set of documents that cite tothe identified document and a second set of documents cited to by theidentified document. The method further involves determining a new scorevalue of the identified document as a function of the score value and aquantity and a quality of documents within the first and second set ofdocuments, ranking the identified document based on the new score value,and outputting on a display device, a report reflecting the ranking ofthe identified document.

In accordance with another embodiment, there is provided acomputer-readable medium comprising program instructions, which, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method forfacilitating a search and identification of documents and associatedmetadata reflecting content of the documents stored in a memory device.The method involves receiving a query comprising a set of search terms,identifying a stored document in response to the query, determining ascore value for the identified document based on a similarity betweenone or more of the query search terms and metadata associated with theidentified document, and locating the identified document in a citationnetwork of baseline query results. The citation network may include afirst set of documents that cite to the identified document and a secondset of documents cited to by the identified document. The method furtherinvolves determining a new score value of the identified document as afunction of the score value and a quantity and a quality of documentswithin the first and second set of documents, ranking the identifieddocument based on the new score value, and outputting on a displaydevice, a report reflecting the ranking of the identified document.

In accordance with another embodiment, there is provided a computersystem, including memory and at least one processor for facilitating asearch and identification of documents and associated metadatareflecting content of the documents stored in a memory device. Thesystem includes a processor receiving a query comprising a set of searchterms, and identifying a stored document in response to the query. Thesystem also includes an IR score generating component determining ascore value for the identified document based on a similarity betweenone or more of the query search terms and metadata associated with theidentified document. The system also includes a citation network ofbaseline query results comprising a first set of documents that cite tothe identified document and a second set of documents cited to by theidentified document. The system also includes a citation componentlocating the identified document in the citation network, anddetermining a new score value of the identified document as a functionof the score value and a quantity and a quality of documents within thefirst and second set of documents. The system also includes a displaydevice displaying a report reflecting a ranking the identified documentbased on the new score value.

In accordance with yet another embodiment, there is provided acomputerized method for calculating an activity score value to rank anidentified document. The method involves identifying a stored document,determining a number of times the identified document was cited in asubject matter community of the identified document, determining aprobability distribution that individual documents within the subjectmatter community are cited a variable number of times by otherindividual documents in the subject matter community, calculating theactivity score value according to a probability that the individualdocuments in the subject matter community are cited at least the numberof times the identified document was cited in the subject mattercommunity, and storing in computer memory a report reflecting a rankingof the identified document based on the activity score value.

In accordance with still yet another embodiment, there is provided acomputer-readable medium comprising program instructions, which, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method forcalculating an activity score value to rank an identified document. Themethod involves, identifying a stored document, determining a number oftimes the identified document was cited in a subject matter community ofthe identified document, determining a probability distribution thatindividual documents within the subject matter community are cited avariable number of times by other individual documents in the subjectmatter community, calculating the activity score value according to aprobability that the individual documents in the subject mattercommunity are cited at least the number of times the identified documentwas cited in the subject matter community, and storing in computermemory a report reflecting a ranking of the identified ranking based onthe activity score value.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory onlyand are not restrictive of the disclosed embodiments, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate various disclosed embodiments. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 includes a block diagram of system components for ranking searchresults in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 2 includes a block diagram of components that may be used inranking search results in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 3 includes a flow diagram illustrating a ranking of search resultsin accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 4 includes a flow diagram illustrating a calculation of an IR scoreusing metadata in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 5 includes a citation network illustrating citation relationshipsamong baseline documents in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 6 includes a flow diagram illustrating a weighting of an IR scoreusing citations in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 7 includes a flow diagram illustrating an activity scorecalculation for a legal document in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a linear graph used to illustrate the relationship ofnumber of case cites of a particular case to activity score inaccordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 9 shows a graph used to illustrate a probability of cases within asubject matter community are cited a variable number of times inaccordance with one embodiment; and

FIG. 10 includes an exemplary results page generated in response to aquery of a legal database in accordance with one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed systems and methods may facilitate a search and identifydocuments and associated metadata reflecting the content of thedocuments. For example, disclosed embodiments may rank search resultswithin citation intensive document collections. To do so, disclosedembodiments may identify a stored document in response to a query anddetermine a score value for the document based on a similarity betweenone or more of query search terms and metadata associated with thedocument. Disclosed embodiments may further locate the document in acitation network of baseline query results. For example, the citationnetwork may include a first set of documents that cite to the documentand a second set of documents that are cited to by the identifieddocument. Disclosed embodiments may determine a new score value for thedocument as a function of the score value and a quantity and a qualityof documents within the first and second set of documents.

Reference will now be made in detail to disclosed embodiments, examplesof which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whereverpossible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout thedrawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary system 100, consistent with a disclosedembodiment. Although a specific number of components are depicted inFIG. 1, any number of these components may be provided. Furthermore, thefunctions provided by one or more components of system 100 may becombined or separated. Moreover, the functionality of any one or morecomponents of system 100 may be implemented by any appropriate computingenvironment.

With reference to FIG. 1, system 100 may include device 102, network112, and database 114. Device 102 may be used for performing computingtasks, such as legal research and other types of research. For example,device 102 may be a desktop computer, laptop computer, or other mobiledevice. Device 102 may include central processing unit (CPU) 104, memory106, user interface 108, and/or I/O unit 110.

CPU 104 may execute computer program instructions to perform variousprocesses and methods. CPU 104 may read the computer programinstructions from memory 106 or from any computer-readable medium.Memory 106 may include and store information and computer programinstructions. Memory 106 may also include additional memory to storedata and information, and/or one or more internal databases (not shown)to store tables, lists, or other data structures. Moreover, userinterface 108 may access user data, such as a user supplied query. Insome embodiments, user interface 108 may be separate from device 102.User interface 108 may also include a visual display. Furthermore, I/Ounit 110 may access data over network 112.

Network 112 in system 100 may facilitate communications between thevarious devices in system 100, such as device 102 and database 114. Inaddition, device 102 may access legacy systems (not shown) via network112, or may directly access legacy systems, databases, or other networkapplications. Network 112 may be a shared, public, or private network,may encompass a wide area or local area, and may be implemented throughany suitable combination of wired and/or wireless communicationnetworks. Furthermore, network 112 may comprise a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), an intranet, or the Internet.

Database 114 in system 100 may include an organized set of documents 116and/or information about documents 116. Documents may be associated withany subject matter, such as legal, scientific, financial, and/orpolitical. Information about documents 116 may include data about thedocuments (e.g., metadata), for example, data from a Shepard's®database, which is applicable to legal documents. Moreover, data aboutthe documents (e.g., metadata) may be included within the documentsthemselves. For example, for legal cases, the metadata may include alisting of core terms and headnotes. The listing of core terms maycapture the content of the document. Moreover, the headnotes may bedescriptive text blocks located with the document. Headnotes may brieflysummarize the content of the baseline document. The headnotes mayinclude headnotes from LexisNexis®. The documents 116 may pertain to anysubject and, accordingly, information about documents 116 may pertain toor relate to information that is associated with the documents 116.

Moreover, although shown as separate components in FIG. 1, database 114and device 102 may be combined. For example, device 102 may include oneor more databases in addition to or instead of database 114. Database114 may also be distributed over multiple databases.

FIG. 2 shows memory 200, which may include components used for rankingsearch results. Memory 200 may be similar to memory 106 from FIG. 1.Memory 200 may include initial result component 202, baseline component204, IR (information retrieval) score generating component 206, citationcomponent 208, and activity score component 210. These components may beimplemented in hardware, software, or firmware, or a combination.

Initial result component 202 may calculate an initial result set ofinitial documents in response to a query. The initial result set may bea list of the initial documents that represents a first cut atidentifying documents satisfying the query. However, in some cases, theinitial result set may not include important documents that are relevantto the query. In these situations, the initial result may be augmentedto include additional documents.

Baseline component 204 may augment the initial result set to includeadditional documents that are relevant to the query. In particular,baseline component 204 may determine additional documents that arefrequently cited by the initial documents from the initial result set.These additional documents may be added to the initial result set tocreate a baseline result. Baseline documents may be documents within thebaseline result. The baseline documents may include the initialdocuments and the additional documents. Alternatively, the baselinedocuments may include only the initial documents without any additionaldocuments. After the baseline documents are identified, they may then beranked according to their relevance with respect to the query.

IR score generating component 206 may retrieve metadata from within thebaseline documents themselves (e.g., within database 114). The metadatamay describe the baseline documents, for example by including core termsand/or headnotes. IR score generating component 206 may compare themetadata of the baseline document to the query. Accordingly, IR scoregenerating component 206 may also generate an IR score for the baselinedocuments using the metadata. The IR score may represent a similaritybetween the baseline documents and the query.

Citation component 208 may weight an IR score of a particular baselinedocument according to citations from other baseline documents (i.e.,in-cites) and/or citations to other baseline documents (i.e.,out-cites). Activity score component 210 may generate an activity scoreto further weight the IR scores according to how well-known the scoredcase is within the legal community as a whole. Alternatively, theactivity score may not weight the IR score, and may be usedindependently from the IR score.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operations of an exemplary method 300 for rankingsearch results. Method 300 may be executed by CPU 104, alone or inconjunction with other components. In block 302, CPU 104 may receive aquery, for example, a search query for documents. The query may bereceived from a user via user interface 108 or may be automaticallygenerated. In block 304, CPU 104 may execute initial result component202 to calculate an initial result set of the query, for example, byidentifying a list of initial documents that are generally relevant tothe query. The initial documents may be identified according to afrequency with which query terms occur within the initial documents, theproximity with which query terms occur within the initial documents,and/or other factors. The initial documents may reside in database 114and may be associated with documents 116.

In block 305, CPU 104 may execute baseline component 204 to calculate abaseline result with baseline documents. The baseline documents mayinclude the initial result documents and additional documents. Theadditional documents may be documents that are relevant to the query,but are not included with the initial result set. The additionaldocuments may be documents that are frequently cited by the initialdocuments. Moreover, the additional documents may be documents that arecited, more than a threshold number of times, by the initial documents.

In block 306, CPU 104 may execute IR score generating component 206 tocalculate an information retrieval (IR) score for each of the baselinedocuments using metadata. As discussed, the metadata may include datadescribing the baseline documents, and may be located within thebaseline documents themselves and/or in database 114. Specifically,metadata from each of the baseline documents may be compared with thequery to calculate the IR score. Accordingly, the IR score may representa similarity between each of the baseline documents and the query.

In block 308, CPU 104 may execute citation component 208 to weigh the IRscore of the baseline documents using citation information. An IR scorefor a baseline document may be increased if it is cited by otherbaseline documents (i.e., in-cites) and/or if it cites to other baselinedocuments (i.e., out-cites).

In block 310, CPU 104 may execute activity score component 210 to weighthe IR score of the baseline documents using an activity score. An IRscore for a baseline document may be increased if it is famous and wellknown in the legal community as a whole. Alternatively, the activityscore may not be used to weight the IR score, and may be usedindependently from the IR score.

In block 312, CPU 104 may rank the baseline documents according toweighted IR scores. Alternatively, or in addition, CPU 104 may rank thebaseline documents according to the activity score. In block 314, CPU104 may cause the baseline documents to be displayed in accordance withtheir rank. For example, higher ranked baseline documents may bedisplayed higher on a list than lower ranked baseline documents. One ofordinary skill will recognize that any blocks 302-314 may be omittedand/or executed in any order.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram 400 of the operations involved in calculatingan information retrieval (IR) score using metadata. In accordance withone implementation consistent with a disclosed embodiment, flow diagram400 may be a process implemented by an IR score generating component206.

In block 402, IR score generating component 206 may receive a baselineresult, for example, from baseline component 204. As discussed, thebaseline result may identify baseline documents that are relevant to orthat meet a query. A baseline document within the baseline result may belocated in database 114. Moreover, the baseline document may includemetadata portions that describe contents of the baseline document. Themetadata portions may include a listing of core terms and headnotes. Thelisting of core terms may capture the content of the baseline document.Moreover, the headnotes may be descriptive text blocks located with thebaseline document. Headnotes may briefly summarize the content of thebaseline document. The headnotes may include headnotes from LexisNexis®.

In block 404, IR score generating component 206 may access a baselinedocument in the baseline result, for example, from database 114. Inblock 406, IR score generating component 206 may access a metadataportion located within the accessed baseline document. The metadataportion may include the core terms or may include the headnotes.

In block 408, IR score generating component 206 may calculate asimilarity between the query and the accessed metadata portion. Forexample, a similarity may be calculated between the query and the coreterms of the metadata and/or between the query and the headnotes of themetadata.

If calculating a similarity between the query and the headnotes, supposeq represents a word vector from the query and H represents a word vectorfrom the headnotes. In this case,similarity(H,q)=|H|*cos θ  [Equation 1]where θ is the angle between the word vectors H and q. In other words,the similarity between the word vector q (for the query) and the wordvector H (for the headnotes) equals the magnitude of the word vector H,multiplied by the cosine of the angle θ between q and H.

Alternatively, or in addition, if calculating a similarity between thequery and the core terms, suppose q still represents the word vectorfrom the query and T represents a word vector from core terms. In thiscase,similarity(T,q)=|T|*cos τ  [Equation 2]where τ is the angle between the word vectors T and q. In other wordsthe, similarity between the word vector q (for the query) and the wordvector T (for the core terms) equals the magnitude of the word vector T,multiplied by the cosine of the angle τ, between q and T.

As discussed, the metadata in the baseline document may include bothheadnotes and core terms. In some embodiments, IR score generatingcomponent 206 may retrieve and process the headnotes and core termsseparately. Accordingly, after the similarity data is calculated foreither the headnotes (according to Equation 1), the core terms(according to Equation 2), or both, IR score generating component 206may determine, in block 410, whether any metadata remains within thebaseline document. If the headnotes were already processed, then coreterms may remain. Alternatively, if the core terms were alreadyprocessed, then the headnotes may remain.

If metadata from the baseline document remains un-retrieved andunprocessed (410—Yes), then process returns to block 406 to retrieve andprocess the remaining metadata. If no metadata from the baselinedocument remains un-retrieved and unprocessed (410—No), then allmetadata has been considered, and in block 412, IR score generatingcomponent 206 may generate the IR score for the baseline documentaccording to the processing of the headnotes (according to Equation 1)and core terms (according to Equation 2) from the metadata.

For example, suppose similarity data for the core terms and theheadnotes, with respect to the query, are calculated according toEquation 1 and Equation 2 above. IR score generating component 206 maythen add and weight these values to generate the IR score for aparticular baseline document. For example, for a document d thatincludes the core terms and headnotes,IRScore(d,q)=w1*similarity(H,q)+w2*similarity(T,q)   [Equation 3]where w1 and w2 are parameter variables to weight the similarity data,and may be determined experimentally. Thus, the IR score of document d,with respect to query q, equals the similarity between the headnotes ofthe document and the query on the one hand (Equation 1), added to thesimilarity between the core terms of the document and the query(Equation 2) on the other hand.

Next, in block 414, IR score generating component 202 may determinewhether any baseline documents from the baseline result remain unscoredby IR score generating component 206. If baseline documents from thebaseline result remain unscored (414—Yes), then process returns to block404 to process the remaining baseline documents. If no baselinedocuments from the baseline result remain unscored (414—No), then allbaseline documents have been considered and scored by IR scoregenerating component 206. Accordingly, in block 414, IR score generatingcomponent 206 may send the IR score(s) to citation component 208. One ofordinary skill will recognize that any blocks 402-416 may be omittedand/or executed in any order.

FIG. 5 illustrates a citation network 500 including citationrelationships among baseline documents, in accordance with oneimplementation consistent with a disclosed embodiment. Citation network500 may be stored in memory 106 and/or database 114. Citation network500 may represent a relationship among documents, such as documents 116.

Citation network may include document d 501, in citation sub-network502, out citation sub-network 504, no citation sub-network 506, anddocuments 1-10. In some embodiments, citation network 500 may includeonly the baseline documents from the baseline results that are retrievedin response to a query.

Document d 501 may be a particular baseline document from the baselineresults. In citation sub-network 502 may include baseline documents thatinclude a citation or reference to document d 501. Specifically,baseline documents 1, 2, 3, and 4 within in citation sub-network 502cite to document d 501, as indicated by the arrows pointing frombaseline documents 1, 2, 3, and 4 to document d 501. Thus, each ofdocuments 1, 2, 3, 4 include a reference to d 501.

Moreover, out citation sub-network 504 may include baseline documentsthat are cited to by document d 501. Specifically, baseline documents 4,5, and 10, within out citation sub-network 504 are cited by d 501, asindicated by the arrows pointing from document d 501 to baselinedocuments 4, 5, and 10. Thus, d 501 includes a references to each ofdocuments 4, 5, and 10.

Furthermore, no citation sub-network 504 may include baseline documentsthat have no direct relationship to document d 501. Specifically,baseline documents 6, 7, 8, and 9 within no citation sub-network 506have no direct citation relationship with d 501, and thus, do not haveany arrows showing a relationship directly to document d 501. Thus, noneof documents 6, 7, 8, and 9 include a reference to d 501, nor does d 501include a reference to any of documents 6, 7, 8, and 9.

As discussed, baseline documents represent a first cut of retrievingrelevant documents that are responsive to a query. To that end, a “metarank score” takes into account citation relationships among the baselinedocuments to rank the baseline documents according to their relevancywith respect to the query. For example, baseline documents that have alarge number of relationships with other baseline documents may beparticularly relevant to the query. The citation relationships used tocalculate the meta rank score may be similar to those discussed inconnection with FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 includes a flow diagram 600 illustrating a use of citationrelationships for calculating the meta rank score. Flow diagram 600 maybe a process implemented by citation component 208. Citation component208 may use citation relationships specified in citation network 500 tocalculate the meta rank score.

In block 602, citation component 208 may receive an IR score for adocument d, for example, from IR score generating component 206. Asdiscussed, the IR score generating component 206 may have calculated theIR score according to metadata (including headnotes and core terms). TheIR score may now be used to calculate document d's meta rank score incombination with the citation relationships among baseline documents. Asdiscussed, the meta rank score may be an accurate indication of d'srelevance to the query because it takes into account citationrelationships between d and other baseline documents that were returnedas baseline results to the query.

Citation component 208 may use in-cites and out-cites in calculating themeta rank score for document d. In-cites may relate to baselinedocuments that cite to document d. For example, in-cites were discussedin connection with in citation sub-network 502 from FIG. 5. Furthermoreout-cites may relate to baseline documents that document d cites to. Forexample, out-cites were discussed in connection with out citationsub-network 504 from FIG. 5.

In block 604, citation component 208 may calculate the meta rank scoreusing in-cites to d. Thus, the documents from in-citation network 502,may be used to calculate d's meta rank score. For example, d's meta rankscore may depend on a number of baseline documents that cite to d. Themeta rank score may equal the IR score for d (e.g. as previouslycalculated in equation 3), plus an added amount for each baselinedocument that cites to d. Moreover, the relevance of the baselinedocuments that cite to d may be also considered when calculating themeta rank score for d. For example,

$\begin{matrix}{{{metaRankScoreIn}(d)} = {{{IRScore}\left( {d,q} \right)} + {\sum\limits_{t \in {C{(d)}}}\;{\log_{2}\left( {{IRScore}\left( {c,q} \right)} \right)}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 4} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$for C(d), a set of legal documents c that cite to d, for examplebaseline documents within in citation sub-network 502. In other words, ameta rank score for d is the IR score of d (the first term of Equation4), plus the log₂ of the IR score of each of the documents c that citeto d (the second term of Equation 4). In this way, the second term ofEquation 4 takes into account not only the number of documents c thatcite to d (by virtue of the summation), but also the quality ofdocuments c. The quality of documents c is determined in Equation 4according to the relevance of documents c to the query q (by virtue oftheir IR score in the second term of Equation 4).

Instead of using Equation 4 to calculate the meta rank score forin-cites, the following equation may alternatively be used,

$\begin{matrix}{{{metaRankScoreIn}(d)} = {{{IRScore}\left( {d,q} \right)} + {\sum\limits_{c \in {C{(d)}}}\;{{{IRScore}\left( {c,q} \right)}*{{smetaSimilarity}\left( {c,d} \right)}}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 5} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where new term smetaSimilarity(c,d) is a calculation directly comparingthe headnotes of each of documents c with the headnotes from d, and alsocomparing the core terms of each of documents c, with the core termsfrom d. Moreover, smetaSimilarity(c,d) can be mathematically calculatedby Jaccard measure as follows,

$\begin{matrix}{{{smetaSimilarity}\left( {c,d} \right)} = {{w\; 1*\frac{{{{Core}(c)}\bigcap{{Core}(d)}}}{{{{Core}(c)}\bigcup{{Core}(d)}}}} + {w\; 2*\frac{{{{HN}(c)}\bigcap{{HN}(d)}}}{{{{HN}(c)}\bigcup{{HN}(d)}}}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 6} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where Core(c) and HN(c) are the set of core term and headnotes,respectively, for documents c, and Core(d) and HN(d) are the set of coreterm and headnotes, respectively, for d. In other words, an additionalway of measuring the quality of documents c that cite to d, is to valuethe degree to which each document c is similar to d, by comparing theheadnotes and core terms of each. Specifically the numerator of thefirst fraction of equation 6 is the number of core terms common to bothdocument c and d (exemplified by the intersection operator ∩). Thedenominator of the first fraction of equation 6 is the total number ofdistinct core terms in document c and d (exemplified by the unionoperator ∪). Moreover, the numerator of the second fraction of equation6 is the number of headnotes common to both document c and d(exemplified by the intersection operator ∩). The denominator of thesecond fraction of equation 6 is the total number of distinct headnotesin document c and d (exemplified by the union operator ∪). In this way,smetaSimilarity(c,d) may be calculated using the in-cites to d.

In addition to, or instead of, computing the meta rank score usingin-cites as in block 604, out-cites can be used in computing the metarank score. Thus, the documents from out-citation network 504 may beused to calculate d's meta rank score. Accordingly, in block 606,citation component 208 may calculate the meta rank score using out-citesfrom d. For example, d's meta rank score may depend on a number ofbaseline documents cited by d. The meta rank score may equal the IRscore for d (e.g. as previously calculated in equation 3), plus an addedamount for each baseline document cited by d. Moreover, the relevance ofthe baseline documents cited by d are also considered when calculatingthe meta rank score. For example,

$\begin{matrix}{{{metaRankScoreOut}(d)} = {{{IRScore}\left( {d,q} \right)} + {\sum\limits_{e \in {E{(d)}}}\;{{IRScore}\left( {e,q} \right)}^{\alpha}} - \beta}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 7} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$for E(d), a set of legal documents e that are cited by d (for examplebaseline documents within out citation sub-network 504), and where α andβ may be experimentally determined, and may be initially set as α=½ andβ=0. In other words, a meta rank score for d is the IR score of d (thefirst term in Equation 7), plus the IR score of each of the documents ecited by d (the second term in Equation 7). As mentioned, the third termin Equation 7, β, may be experimentally determined. This way, the secondterm of Equation 7 takes into account not only the number of documents ecited by d, but also the quality of documents e. The quality ofdocuments c is determined in Equation 7 according to the relevance ofthe documents e to the query q (by virtue of their IR score in thesecond term of Equation 7).

Instead of using Equation 7 to calculate the meta rank score forout-cites, the following equation may be used,

$\begin{matrix}{{{{metaRankScore}(d)}{Out}} = {{{IRScore}\left( {d,q} \right)} + {\sum\limits_{e \in {E{(d)}}}\;{{{IRScore}\left( {e,q} \right)}*{\sum\limits_{t \in {T{(d)}}}\;\frac{{IRScore}\left( {t,q} \right)}{{T(d)}}}}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 8} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$for T(d), a set of topics included in d. In other words, a meta rankscore for d is the IR score of d, plus the IR score of each of thedocuments e cited by d, weighted by an IR score of the topical relevanceof d. Moreover, IRScore(t,q) may be mathematically calculated by Jaccardmeasure as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{{IRScore}\left( {t,q} \right)} = \frac{{{{Topic}(t)}\bigcap{{Term}(q)}}}{{{{Topic}(t)}\bigcup{{Term}(q)}}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{20mu} 9} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where Topic(t) and Term(q) may be the set of topics t in d, and the setof terms in query q, respectively. In other words, the topicalsimilarity between d and q, divided by the total number of topics in d(the last sum in equation 8) weights the IR score of each document ethat is cited by d (the first sum in equation 8). Moreover, with respectto equation 9, the numerator is the total number of distinct topics thatare included in both topic t of document d and query q (exemplified bythe intersection operator ∩). The denominator is the total number ofdistinct terms that are included in topic t of document d or query q(exemplified by the union operator ∪). In this way, the meta rank scoremay be calculated using the out-cites from d.

After calculating the meta rank score using at least one of in-citesfrom 504 and out-cites from 506, in block 608, citation component 208may send the meta rank for display. Alternatively, in block 610,citation component 208 may send the meta rank to activity scorecomponent 210 for further weighing. One of ordinary skill will recognizethat any blocks 602-610 may be omitted and/or executed in any order.

FIG. 7 includes a flow diagram 700 illustrating an activity scorecalculation for a document, such as a legal document. An activity scoremay reflect the prominence of document d within its subject mattercommunity as a whole, such as a legal community. Flow diagram 700 may bea process implemented by an activity score component 210 to calculatethe activity score of a document d. The activity score component 210 mayoperate independently from a query or other search.

In block 702, activity score component 210 may determine an activityscore vector for document d. The activity score vector may be used tomodel the manner in which outside sources have treated, commented on, ordescribed document d. The activity score vector may be constructedaccording to six parameters of document d. Each parameter may correspondto a different outside source that has treated document d. The sixparameters may include case cites, U.S. Supreme Court cites, law reviewarticles, treatises, signal, and/or treatment. The activity score vectoras a whole, and each of the parameters in particular, may provide anindication as to the overall prominence of d in the subject mattercommunity.

For example, parameter one of the activity score, i.e., case cites, mayrelate to court cases in a particular subject matter community that citeto d. The subject matter community may include the legal community as awhole, and may not be limited to the baseline search results. In someembodiments, the subject matter community may be limited by a legaljurisdiction, such as a particular state, or may include multiplejurisdictions. A number of cases in the subject matter community thatcite to d may be an indicator of the prominence of d within the subjectmatter community as a whole.

Parameter two of the exemplary activity score, i.e., U.S. Supreme Courtcites, may include U.S. Supreme Court cases that cite to d. Becausedocuments cited by the U.S. Supreme Court are considered strongprecedent, any U.S. Supreme Court cases that cite d may be an indicatorof the prominence of d.

Parameters three and four of the exemplary score vector, i.e., lawreview articles and treatises that cite to d, may be legal documents,which are not court cases, and that may indicate the academic treatmentof d. Accordingly, law review articles and treatises that cite to d mayalso be an indicator of the prominence of d within the subject mattercommunity.

Parameters five and six of the activity score, i.e., signal andtreatment, may be retrieved from a Shepard's® database. The signal maysummarize the treatment of d within the legal community. The treatmentmay include a number of positive and negative treatments of d within thesubject matter community.

More or fewer parameters may be used for calculating the activity score.Moreover, the parameters disclosed herein are exemplary only.

Next, in block 704, activity score component 210 may calculate anindividual activity score for each of the parameters of the activityscore. For example, individual activity scores may be calculated forparameters one through four (case cites, U.S. Supreme Court cites, lawreview articles, treatises), which emphasis a number of documents, notlimited to baseline documents, that cite to d. Moreover, individualactivity scores may also be calculated for parameters five and six (i.e.signal and treatment).

In block 706, activity score component 210 may adjust or normalize atleast one of the individual activity scores, for example thosecorresponding to parameters one through four, according to aprobability. In block 708, activity score component 210 may calculate atotal activity score by adding the adjusted or normalized individualactivity scores from parameters one through six. In block 710, theactivity score component 210 may adjust the total activity scoreaccording to the age of d. In block 712, the activity score component210 may store the total activity score in memory. One of ordinary skillwill recognize that any blocks 702-712 may be omitted and/or executed inany order.

Specifically, there are several ways to individually score parametersone through four as set forth in block 704. Parameters one through fouremphasize a number of documents in a subject matter community as whole,not limited to baseline documents related to a query, that cite todocument d. For example, an individual activity score for parameter one(representing case cites), may simply equal a number of times thatdocuments within the subject matter community cite to d.

FIG. 8 illustrates such an example. FIG. 8 includes linear graph 800illustrating the relationship of number of case cites of document d (onthe x-axis) to its corresponding activity score (on the y-axis). Thus,linear graph 8 illustrates one manner of calculating an individualactivity score for parameter one of d's activity score. As shown, theindividual activity score for parameter one of d's activity score vectorequals the number of times that cases within the subject mattercommunity cite to document d.

However, linear graph 800 provides one way to calculate the individualactivity score of d for parameter one of the activity score. Inparticular, linear graph 800 does not take into account how often otherdocuments in the subject matter community are cited to. For example,with respect to parameter one which represents case cites, legaldocument d₁ on graph 800 is cited by 10 cases in the legal community,and legal document d₂ is cited by 20 cases in the legal community.Accordingly, for documents d₁ and d₂, the difference in the individualactivity score (for parameter one) is 10.

Moreover, legal document d₃ is cited by 30 cases in the legal community.Accordingly, for documents d₂ and d₃, the difference in the individualactivity score (for parameter one) is also 10.

However, the number of times that other documents are cited to in thesubject matter community should also be a factor in determining activityscores for documents d₁-d₃. In this way, a number of times that otherdocuments in the subject matter community are cited to may be used toadjust or normalize the activity score of document d. For example, ifthere are 5 documents in the subject matter community that are cited 10times like d₁, and there are 100 documents in the subject mattercommunity that are cited to 20 times like d₂, then the difference inactivity score between d₁ and d₂ should be proportionately large. Bycontrast, if there are 110 other documents in the subject mattercommunity that are cited to 30 times like d₃, then the difference inactivity score between d₂ and d₃ should be proportionately small. Inother words, the difference in individual activity score between d₁ andd₂ should be larger than the difference in individual activity scorebetween d₂ and d₃ in this example. In the subject matter community, thedifference between being cited 10 times and being cited 20 times isconsiderable, whereas the difference between being cited 20 times andbeing cited 30 times is not considerable. However, using the manner ofcalculating an activity score in FIG. 8, the activity score differencebetween d₁ and d₂ and between d₂ and d₃ are the same, i.e. 10.

Moreover, since parameters two to four of the activity score vector areconceptually similar to parameter one, a graph similar to linear graph800 may not provide the optimal way to calculate the activity score forparameters two to four of d's activity score.

One way of taking into account the other documents in the subject mattercommunity to determine parameter one of the activity score (case citesto d), is to use a probability. For example, if it is known thatdocument d is cited 10 times in the legal community, then instead ofusing 10 as a basis for the activity score, the probability that d iscited 10 times may be used. Using the probability enables otherdocuments in the subject matter community to be considered for thepurposes of adjustment or normalization. That is,Pr(X=x)   [Equation 10]which is the probability that X (the number of times d is cited) equalsx, which is 10 in this example. This probability distribution may not beoptimal because the data set may change dynamically such that additionalcases are added to the subject matter community that may cite to d.Therefore, alternatively, the probability that d is cited 10 times ormore may be calculated. That is,Pr(X≧x)   [Equation 11]which is the probability that X (the number of times d is cited) isgreater than or equal to x, which is 10 in this example. Probabilitydistributions from Equations 10 and/or 11 may be used to adjust ornormalize the activity score of d with respect to the other documents inthe subject matter community.

With further reference to equation 11, multiple values may be used for X(the number of times that d is cited), instead of only 10 in theprevious example. When multiple values of X are used, a probability iscalculated for each of the multiple values. The following table ofresults was generated for a particular court case in California. Thetable reflects the number of times that the particular court case wascited in the jurisdiction of California, as well as a correspondingprobability.

TABLE 4 Sample results Total_cites Entry (x) Pr (X >= x) 1 141790.071392 2 13867 0.075854 3 13279 0.080316 4 13043 0.084778 5 127900.08924 6 12717 0.093702 7 12672 0.098164 8 12014 0.102626 9 112420.107088 10 11204 0.11155 11 11149 0.116012 12 10427 0.120474 13 100550.124936 14 9980 0.129398 14 9730 0.13386 15 9371 0.138322 16 92110.142784 17 8967 0.147246 18 8961 0.151708

The first column (entry) of Table 4 serves to provide a row number forthe data values, for the purposes of reference. The second column ofTable 4 (total cites) illustrates multiple values of X for theparticular court case. In other words, the second column of Table 4illustrates potential values for a number of times that court cases inthe jurisdiction of California cite to the particular court case. Thecorresponding values in column three (Pr(X>=x), illustrate acorresponding probability for each of the values in column 1.

For example, the first data entry (entry 1) illustrates that theprobability of the particular court case being cited more than 14,179times is 0.071392 (7.1392%). Accordingly, it is relatively unlikely thatthe particular court case is cited more than 14,179 times in California.By contrasted, the last data entry (line 18) illustrates that theprobability of the particular court case being cited more than 8,961times is 0.151708 (15.1708%). Accordingly, it is somewhat likely thatthe particular court case is cited more than 8,961 times in California.

Once a set of data points (such as the ones in Table 4) is calculatedaccording to equation 11, it becomes necessary to calculate a formulathat accurately models the set of data points. Accordingly, a regressionmay be performed on the data set according to the following:Pr(X<x)=α·x ^(α)  [Equation 11.1]where x is a number of cases citing document d, and a and α are learnedfrom a regression method. Moreover, x may correspond to the values fromcolumn 2 of table 4. For exemplary purposes only, the regressionfunction for the data from Table 4 may be calculated to be:Pr(X<x)=12643x ^(−1.1598).   [Equation 11.2]

FIG. 9 shows graph 900 that illustrates a relationship between aprobability of cases within a subject matter community that are cited avariable number of times and its activity score. Graph 900 includes anactivity score value or a probability value on the y-axis, and a numberof cases cited on the x-axis. Probability distribution curve 902 showsan exemplarily probability distribution over a set of documents in thesubject matter community. Probability function 902 uses equation 11 toillustrate the probability (y) that a given document is cited greaterthan or equal to certain number of times (x), in the subject mattercommunity.

In this example, probability distribution curve 902 may be based on thedata points illustrated in Table 4. Moreover, probability distributioncurve 902 may follow equation 11.2, which is the equation calculated (byperforming a regression) to represent the data points from Table 4.

For example, for a document d₄ that is cited 320 times, thePr(X≧320)=15, i.e. the probability that d₄ is cited more than 320 timesis 15%. For a document d₅ that is cited 620 times, the Pr(X≧620)=7, i.e.the probability that d₅ is cited more than 620 times is 7%. For adocument d₆ that is cited 920 times, the Pr(X≧920)=4, i.e. theprobability that d₆ is cited more than 920 times is 4%. Thus,probability distribution curve 902 takes into account the frequency withwhich other documents in the legal community are cited to, andtherefore, can be used to formulate the activity score. However,probability distribution curve 902 is downward sloping, such that theprobability (y) decreases as the number of cited cases (x) increases. Bycontrast, the activity score should increase as the number of casedcited increases, while still taking into account other documents in thelegal community.

Therefore, an activity score may be formulated as an inverse of equation11.1. Accordingly, an equation for the activity score may be:

$\begin{matrix}{{{Score}(x)} = \frac{k}{\left( {{a \cdot x^{- \alpha}} + 1} \right)^{p}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 11.3} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$in Which k and p are constants decided by application needs, p<1, and aand α are learned from a regression method (as was the case withequation 11.1)

In FIG. 9, activity score curve 904 illustrates an individual activityscore from equation 11.3. Accordingly, while probability distributioncurve 902 decreases and converges to zero as the number of times cited(x-axis) increases, the activity score curve 904 is formulated toincrease and converge at a maximum value k>0 as the number of timescited (x-axis) increases. In this example, activity score curve 904converges to a value near 50.

Moreover, for a document d₄ that is cited 320 times, the individualactivity score is 37. For a document d₅ that is cited 620 times, theindividual activity score is 42. For a document d₆ that is cited 920times, the individual activity score is 45. In this example, theindividual activity scores increase to reflect the importance ofadditional citations, yet increase at a diminishing rate to reflect thedecreased likelihood of documents being cited to a larger and largernumber of times.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are illustrative of parameter one of the activity score(case cites). Similar concepts, including equations 11.1 and 11.3, maybe used to calculate parameters two through four (U.S. Supreme Courtcites, law review articles, and treatises). As discussed, individualactivity scores for parameters one though four may be added toindividual activity scores for parameters five and six (signal andtreatment), to calculate a total activity score for a document d.

Accordingly, the total activity score for d may be represented as,

$\begin{matrix}{{{ActivityScore}(d)} = {{{W({age})}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{4}{w_{i}{{Score}\left( x_{i} \right)}}}} + {{Score}\left( x_{5} \right)} + {{Score}\left( x_{6} \right)}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 12} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where w_(i) is the weight or score distribution and x_(i) is the totalnumber of citing references for activity score vector dimension i. Forexample, i=1 corresponds to the first dimension in the activity scorevector, which is citing cases. Moreover, i=2 corresponds to the secondfactor in the activity score vector, which is U.S. Supreme Court Cases,and so forth.

The first term in Equation 12, W(age) may increase the activity score oflegal documents that are younger or more recent. For example, a 30 yearold legal document which is cited to 5 times receives a lower activityscore than a 1 year old legal document which is also cited to 5 times.The factor W(age) may be calculated according to the following:

$\begin{matrix}{{W({age})} = \frac{k}{\frac{\log_{2}({age})}{m} + 1}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 13} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where k and m are constants which may be dynamically decided based onapplication needs. In this way, younger cases may be promoted to havehigher activity scores.

The next term in Equation 12 (the summation), adds individual activityscores for each of dimensions one through four in the activity scorevector. The individual activity score for each of dimensions one throughfour may use an inverse of a probability distribution to take intoaccount the frequency with which other documents in the legal communityare cited to, such as exemplified in FIG. 9.

The next term in Equation 12 is an activity score of a signal associatedwith d (corresponding to dimension five of the activity score vector).This activity score may be decided semantically by application needs.

The next term in Equation 12 is activity score of a treatment associatedwith d (corresponding to dimension six of the activity score vector).The activity score of the treatment may be defined according to a numberof positive and/or negative treatments of d. The activity score of thetreatment may be calculated according to the following,

$\begin{matrix}{{{Score}\left( x_{6} \right)} = \frac{k}{\left( {{{a\left( {x + 1} \right)}^{- \alpha}*100} + 1} \right)^{p}}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 14} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where,

$\begin{matrix}{x = \frac{\left( {P - N} \right)^{2}}{P + N}} & \left\lbrack {{Equation}\mspace{14mu} 15} \right\rbrack\end{matrix}$where k is positive when P>N, and k is negative when P<N, and k=0 whenP=N. Moreover, variables a, α, and p may be learned from a regressionmethod (as was the case with equation 11.1).

As set forth above, the terms in Equation 12 have been described. Theseterms may be used in calculating a total activity score for d. The totalactivity score for d may be used to weight a meta rank score for d.Alternatively, the total activity score of d may independent from themeta rank score of d, and may be displayed separately.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary results page 1000, which may begenerated in response to a query of a legal database, such as database114, in accordance with disclosed embodiments. Results page 1000includes a ranked list of documents, as well as corresponding data aboutthe ranking for each document. Each row is an entry and each entrycorresponds to a document. For example, entry 1001 corresponds to astored document determined to be responsive to a query. The same is truefor the remaining entries in page 1000. The order of ranking in resultspage 1000 may be determined according to an IRScore, meta rank score,and/or activity score, among other factors, for each document. Moreover,results page 1000 may include a series of columns 1002-1026 thatdescribe the ranked list of documents.

Column 1002 may include an original rank for each displayed document,before the IR Score, meta rank score, and/or activity score may be usedto rank the displayed documents. For example, the original rankcorresponding to entry 1001, shown in column 1002, is “7.” Accordingly,column 1002 may be used to illustrate a change in ranking between priorranking systems and systems consistent with disclosed embodiments.

Column 1004 may include a number of documents within a baseline set thatare cited to by each displayed document (out-cites). For example, thenumber of documents that are cited to by the document corresponding toentry 1001, as shown in column 1004, is “0.” Moreover, column 1006 mayinclude a number of documents within the baseline set that cite eachdisplayed document (in-cites). For example, the number of documents thatcite to by the document corresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column1006, is “16.” Out-cites and in-cites were previously discussed withrespect to FIGS. 5 and 6.

Column 1008 may include an IR Score, which illustrates a similaritybetween metadata of the displayed documents and the query. For example,the IR score corresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1008, is“17.0.” IR Score from column 1008 may be calculated according toEquation 3 (which incorporates Equations 1 and 2). Column 1010 mayinclude a first meta rank score for each displayed document calculatedaccording to in-cites, out-cites, and the IR Score. For example, thefirst meta rank score corresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column1010, is “44.0.” First meta rank score from column 1010 may becalculated according to a combination of equations 4 and 7 (e.g., byadding the results of Equations 4 and 7).

Moreover, column 1012 may include a second meta rank score for eachdisplayed legal document, also calculated according to in-cites,out-cites, and the IR Score. For example, the second meta rank scorecorresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1012, is “66.0.” Secondmeta rank score from column 1012 may be calculated according to acombination of equations 5 (which incorporates Equation 6) and 8 (whichincorporates Equation 9). For example, the results of Equations 5 and 8may be added to arrive at the second meta rank score.

First meta rank score and second meta rank score may both correspond toa meta rank score. First meta rank score and second meta rank score mayeach be the result of different methods by which to calculate a metarank score according to an IR Score, in-cite, and/or out-cites.

Column 1014 may include a signal (e.g. a Shepard's® signal) for each ofthe displayed documents. For example, the signal corresponding to entry1001, as shown in column 1014, is an upward arrow signifying positivetreatment. Column 1016 may include an activity score for each of thedisplayed legal documents. For example, the activity score correspondingto entry 1001, as shown in column 1016, is “73.” The activity score fromcolumn 1014 may be calculated according to equation 12, whichincorporates equations 13-15.

Column 1018 may include a first new ranking by combining the first metarank score with the activity score. For example, the first new rankingcorresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1018, is “58.” Column1020 may include a second new ranking by combining the second meta rankscore with the activity score. For example, the second new rankingcorresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1020, is “80.” First newranking and second new ranking may be the results of different methodsto rank the displayed legal documents using the IR Score, meta rankscore, and/or activity score.

Column 1022 may include case names or other identifiers for thedisplayed documents. For example, the case name corresponding to entry1001, as shown in column 1022, is “Case 2.” Column 1024 may includecitations for each of the displayed documents. For example, the citationcorresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1024, is “Cite 2.”Column 1026 may include a date associated with each of the displayeddocuments, for example, a date decided. For example, the datecorresponding to entry 1001, as shown in column 1026, is “Date 2.”

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes ofillustration. It is not exhaustive and is not limiting to the preciseforms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations will beapparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of thespecification and practice of the disclosed embodiments. For example,the described implementations include software, but systems and methodsconsistent with the disclosed embodiments be implemented as acombination of hardware and software or in hardware alone. Examples ofhardware include computing or processing systems, including personalcomputers, servers, laptops, mainframes, micro-processors and the like.Additionally, although aspects of the disclosed embodiments aredescribed as being stored in memory, one skilled in the art willappreciate that these aspects can also be stored on other types ofcomputer-readable media, such as secondary storage devices, for example,hard disks, floppy disks, or CD-ROM, or other forms of RAM or ROM, USBmedia, DVD, or other optical drive media.

Computer programs based on the written description and disclosed methodsare within the skill of an experienced developer. The various programsor program modules can be created using any of the techniques known toone skilled in the art or can be designed in connection with existingsoftware. For example, program sections or program modules can bedesigned in or by means of Net Framework, .Net Compact Framework (andrelated languages, such as Visual Basic, C, etc.), Java, C++, HTML,HTML/AJAX combinations, XML, or HTML with included Java applets. One ormore of such software sections or modules can be integrated into acomputer system or existing e-mail or browser software.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope of any and all embodiments having equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations and/or alterations as would be appreciated bythose in the art based on the present disclosure. The limitations in theclaims are to be interpreted broadly based on the language employed inthe claims and not limited to examples described in the presentspecification or during the prosecution of the application, whichexamples are to be construed as non-exclusive. Further, the blocks ofthe disclosed routines may be modified in any manner, including byreordering blocks and/or inserting or deleting blocks. It is intended,therefore, that the specification and examples be considered asexemplary only, with a true scope and spirit being indicated by thefollowing claims and their full scope of equivalents.

Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the embodimentsdisclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method for facilitating asearch and identification of documents stored in a memory device, themethod comprising: receiving a query comprising a set of search terms;identifying an initial result set of stored documents that are relevantto the query; identifying a document from the initial result set;determining a score value representing a degree of similarity betweenthe identified document and the query, wherein the score value is basedon a similarity between one or more of the query search terms andmetadata describing subject matter of the identified document; locatingthe identified document in a citation network of baseline query results,the citation network comprising a first set of documents that cite tothe identified document and a second set of documents cited to by theidentified document; determining a new score value of the identifieddocument as a function of the score value and a quantity and a qualityof documents within the first and second set of documents; locatingdocuments from a subject matter community of the identified document,outside of the citation network, that refer to the identified document;calculating an activity score value of the identified document based atleast in part on a number of times the identified document is referredto in the subject matter community; weighing the new score value withthe activity score; ranking the identified document based on theweighted new score value; and outputting on a display device, a reportreflecting the ranking of the identified document.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining a quality of a citing documentfrom the first set of documents by performing at least one ofcalculating a similarity between the query and the citing document, orcalculating a similarity between the identified document and the citingdocument, wherein the new score value is further calculated according tothe quality of the citing document.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a quality of a cited document from the secondset of documents by performing at least one of calculating a similaritybetween the query and the cited document, or calculating a similaritybetween a topic of the query and a topic of the cited document, whereinthe new score value is further calculated according to the quality ofthe cited document.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata ofthe identified document comprises at least one of headnotes or coreterms of the identified document.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: augmenting the baseline search results with additionaldocuments, wherein the additional documents are cited by the baselinesearch results more than a threshold number of times.
 6. Acomputer-readable medium comprising program instructions, which, whenexecuted by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method forfacilitating a search and identification of documents stored in a memorydevice, the method comprising: receiving a query comprising a set ofsearch terms; identifying an initial result set of stored documents thatare relevant to the query; identifying a document from the initialresult set; determining a score value representing a degree ofsimilarity between the identified document and the query, wherein thescore value is based on a similarity between one or more of the querysearch terms and metadata describing subject matter of the identifieddocument; locating the identified document in a citation network ofbaseline query results, the citation network comprising a first set ofdocuments that cite to the identified document and a second set ofdocuments cited to by the identified document; determining a new scorevalue of the identified document as a function of the score value and aquantity and a quality of documents within the first and second set ofdocuments; locating documents from a subject matter community of theidentified document, outside of the citation network, that refer to theidentified document; calculating an activity score value of theidentified document based at least in part on a number of times theidentified document is referred to in the subject matter community;weighing the new score value with the activity score; ranking theidentified document based on the weighted new score value; andoutputting on a display device, a report reflecting the ranking of theidentified document.
 7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, themethod further comprising determining a quality of a citing documentfrom the first set of documents by performing at least one ofcalculating a similarity between the query and the citing document, orcalculating a similarity between the identified document and the citingdocument, wherein the new score value is further calculated according tothe quality of the citing document.
 8. The computer-readable medium ofclaim 6, the method further comprising determining a quality of a citeddocument from the second set of documents by performing at least one ofcalculating a similarity between the query and the cited document, orcalculating a similarity between a topic of the query and a topic of thecited document, wherein the new score value is further calculatedaccording to the quality of the cited document.
 9. The computer-readablemedium of claim 6, wherein the metadata of the identified documentcomprises at least one of headnotes or core terms of the identifieddocument.
 10. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, the methodfurther comprising: augmenting the baseline search results withadditional documents, wherein the additional documents are cited by thebaseline search results more than a threshold number of times.
 11. Acomputer system, including memory and at least one processor forfacilitating a search and identification of documents stored in a memorydevice, the system comprising: a processor receiving a query comprisinga set of search terms, identifying an initial result set of storeddocuments that are relevant to the query, and identifying a documentfrom the initial result set; an IR score generating componentdetermining a score value representing a degree of similarity betweenthe identified document and the query, wherein the score value is basedon a similarity between one or more of the query search terms andmetadata describing subject matter of the identified document; acitation network of baseline query results comprising a first set ofdocuments that cite to the identified document and a second set ofdocuments cited to by the identified document; a citation componentlocating the identified document in the citation network, anddetermining a new score value of the identified document as a functionof the score value and a quantity and a quality of documents within thefirst and second set of documents; an activity score component thatlocates documents in a subject matter community of the identifieddocument, outside of the citation network, that refer to the identifieddocument, wherein the activity score component calculates an activityscore value of the identified document based at least in part on anumber of times the identified document is referred to in the subjectmatter community and weighs the new score value with the activity score;and a display device displaying a report reflecting a ranking theidentified document based on the weighted new score value.
 12. Thecomputer system of claim 11, wherein the citation component determines aquality of a citing document from the first set of documents byperforming at least one of calculating a similarity between the queryand the citing document, or calculating a similarity between theidentified document and the citing document, wherein the citationcomponent further calculates the new score value according to thequality of the citing document.
 13. The computer system of claim 11,wherein the citation component determines a quality of a cited documentfrom the second set of documents by performing at least one ofcalculating a similarity between the query and the cited document, orcalculating a similarity between a topic of the query and a topic of thecited document, wherein the citation component further calculates thenew score value according to the quality of the cited document.
 14. Thecomputer system of claim 11, wherein the metadata of the identifieddocument comprises at least one of headnotes or core terms of theretrieved document.
 15. The computer system of claim 11, furthercomprising: a baseline component augmenting the baseline search resultswith additional documents, wherein the additional documents are cited bythe baseline search results more than a threshold number of times.